Mid Day International News |
- 26/11: US court summons Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Hafiz Saeed
- French granny rescued after getting stuck in loo for 3 weeks
- Paris Hilton shows full moon in sheer leggings disaster
- Grab a 16 pound copy of Kate Middleton's 399 pound engagement dress!
- Berlusconi calls for sobriety
- Taliban true followers of Islamic ideology: Pakistan minister
- China shuts down 60,000 porn sites
- Miners believed dead after second blast at New Zealand coal mine
- China shuts down 60,000 porn sites
- Facebook a trap, says web founder
- Bookies back royal Kenyan honeymoon
- N Korea threatens 'merciless' strikes
| 26/11: US court summons Ahmed Shuja Pasha, Hafiz Saeed Posted: A US court has issued summons to senior ISI officials including its powerful chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha, along with Mumbai attack masterminds and LeT leaders Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi in response to a lawsuit filed by relatives of two American victims accusing them of providing material support for the 26/11 attacks. The 26-page lawsuit was filed before a New York Court on November 19 against the Inter-Services Intelligence and Lashkar-e-Taiba by the relatives Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who were both gunned down by militants at the Chhabad House in Mumbai. Their son Moshe was saved by his Indian nanny in the tragedy. The 26-page lawsuit accusing ISI of aiding and abetting LeT in the slaughter of 166 people was filed before a New York Court on November 19, following which the Brooklyn court issued summons to Major Samir Ali, Azam Cheema, Inter-Services Intelligence of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Major Iqbal, Lakhvi, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Sajid Majid, Pasha, Saeed and Nadeem Taj. "The ISI has long nurtured and used international terrorist groups, including LeT, to accomplish its goals and has provided material support to LeT and other international terrorist groups," said the lawsuit filed by relatives of the slain Rabbi. Pasha, who has been director general of the ISI since September 2008, has been summoned, so is Nadeem Taj, the director general of ISI from September 2007 to September 2008. Major Iqbal and Major Samir Ali are other ISI officers who have been issued summons. The one of its kind lawsuit also brings as defendants Lashkar operatives like operations commander Lakhvi, JuD chief Saeed, and Azam Cheema. "The Mumbai terrorist attack was planned, trained for and carried out by members of defendant LeT. Defendant ISI provided critical planning, material support, control and coordination of the attacks," the lawsuit alleges. It accuses ISI officers Pasha, Taj, Iqbal and Ali of being purposefully engaged in the direct provision of material support or resources including weapons and explosives. "On and prior to November 26, 2008, ISI, Pasha, Taj, Iqbal and Ali (as well as other officials, agents and employees of ISI) directed, engaged and/or relied upon the efforts of US-based individuals, including but not limited to Headley and Rana, for raising funds, building a network of connections, recruiting participants and planning the operation of the Mumbai terror attack," the lawsuit claims. Noting that LeT still operates training camps in Pakistan, Kashmir and Afghanistan, the petition said the group has openly advocated violence against India, Israel and the United States. It names Muridke, Manshera and Muzaffarabad as centres of training camps operated by the LeT. The 10 LeT members who undertook the on-the-ground Mumbai terrorist attack underwent extensive training in the LeT camps in Pakistan, the lawsuit alleged. It also says that Pakistani American LeT operative David Headley, who has already pleaded guilty for his role in the plotting of the attack, built a network of connections from Chicago to Pakistan, undertaking these efforts at the direction and with the material support of both LeT and the ISI. Prior to and following each trip to Mumbai, Headley reported to and received further instructions from both LeT, including defendants Majid and Iqbal, and the ISI, it alleges. "In September 2008, the 10 LeT attackers were moved to Karachi and installed in an ISI/LeT safe house and isolated from outside contact," it said, adding that while staying in the Karachi safe house, they received specific instructions on Mumbai targets. The safe house was part of ISI's Karachi Project, an initiative by which anti-Indian groups were tasked and supported by the ISI in a surreptitious fashion to engage in acts of international terrorism. "During the period Headley communicated with and took directions from the ISI regarding the Mumbai plot, defendant Taj, as ISI's Director-General, exerted full command and control over the ISI. "During the final two months of training of the LeT attackers and throughout the attack, defendant Pasha exerted full command and control over the ISI," it alleged. During the Mumbai attacks, the lawsuit alleges defendant Majid along with other LeT officers operated from a mission control room in Karachi, passing instructions and encouragement to the attackers via telephone. "By reason of the foregoing, LeT, Saeed, Lakhvi, Cheema and Majid are each liable to each plaintiff, individually and as the personal representative and/or surviving family member of their decedents, for compensatory damages in excess of USD 75,000, such amount to be determined by a jury," it said.
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| French granny rescued after getting stuck in loo for 3 weeks Posted: A French pensioner who was locked in her own bathroom for three weeks has been freed by the police. She repeatedly banged on the door and cried for help, but her neighbours apparently thought workmen were carrying out some maintenance work. The police finally rescued the woman, who has not been named, from her apartment in Essone, near Paris. They said she had been in a terrible state when they forced their way into the windowless bathroom. "We broke into the flat and heard noises so broke the bathroom door down. The lock had snapped off and she was trapped. There were no windows and no way out," said a spokesman. "She was badly malnourished and in a state of shock and has been taken to hospital to recover from her ordeal," he added.
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| Paris Hilton shows full moon in sheer leggings disaster Posted: Paris Hilton has done it again - the socialite accidentally mooned photogs when she bent over while wearing sheer leggings. The heiress has shown off the goods -- accidentally or not -- several times in recent years but apparently decided this week to put a new twist on the unflattering look. Rather than wearing a too-short dress, Hilton, 29, opted for sheer leggings. They may have been black, but the color provided no protection, reports the New York Daily News. It was broad daylight out, but a full moon was in view when the socialite bent over to pick up a shopping bag.
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| Grab a 16 pound copy of Kate Middleton's 399 pound engagement dress! Posted: Kate Middleton's engagement dress worth 399 pounds flew off the shelves last week within hours of her appearance, but for those still looking - copies of her outfit are now available and will cost you just 16 pounds. Tesco at High Street has already taken delivery of its own 'tribute' version - it has a similar wrap neckline and fitted waist, but a shorter hemline and sleeves. The dress has been designed by in-house label F and F and is expected to sell out fast, reports the Daily Mail. And it's not just the dress that's popular with women, it's Middleton's ring too. QVC said sales of its 34 pounds Epiphany Platinum Clad 'Diamonique' ring soared by 800 per cent after Miss Middleton showed off her 300,000 pound sapphire and diamond ring.
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| Posted: Italy's embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Tuesday called for 'sobriety' and urged politicians to show 'a sense of responsibility'. The flamboyant premier has recently been embroiled in a new series of sex scandals and has seen his popularity slump. Berlusconi's government faces a confidence vote in December following the defection a key former ally. 'As far as internal questions go regarding the People of Freedom (party), I plan to tackle these very soon, and with my habitual ability to take into account various people's opinions,' Berlusconi said. 'Meanwhile, I invite everyone to show a sense of responsibility and sobriety, out of respect for our activists and voters,' said the 74-year-old premier. Berlusconi's government faces a confidence vote in the lower and upper houses of the Italian parliament next month. The Berlusconi government has been edging ever-closer to collapse since his key former ally, Italian lower house of parliament speaker Gianfranco Fini broke away from the 74-year-old prime minister in July and deprived him of a safe majority. Several fresh sex scandals have hit Berlusconi this autumn involving a prostitute and a teenage nightclub dancer who says she attended after-dinner sex games at his villa in Arcore, near Milan. The septuagenarian was earlier linked to a teenage underwear model and another prostitute. He has decried what he calls 'indecent attacks' against him. The government has come under mounting pressure over Italy's ailing economy and controversial legislation critics say is aimed at saving Berlusconi from prosecution for corruption and tax fraud.
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| Taliban true followers of Islamic ideology: Pakistan minister Posted: The Taliban are 'the true followers of Islamic ideology', says a Pakistan minister who also believes that 'America is the biggest terrorist of the world'. According to federal Minister for Tourism Maulana Attaur Rehman: 'Ulema and Taliban are the true followers of Islamic ideology and America is the biggest terrorist of the world, which is creating hatred against them.' Dawn quoted Rehman as saying at a public gathering in Allai area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Tuesday that terrorism could not be brought to an end until the US and the world gave equal rights and respect to the Muslims. 'It is a misconception that ulema and Taliban are against co-existence of people with different religions. In fact it is America which is against the interfaith harmony to maintain its hegemony on the world,' said Rehman. The Pakistan Army has been battling heavily armed Taliban guerrillas in the mountainous Waziristan region. The well-entrenched rebels put up a stiff resistance against the advancing soldiers. The country has faced a string of terror strikes and the Taliban has been blamed for the Dec 27, 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi.
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| China shuts down 60,000 porn sites Posted: China has shut down over 60,000 websites for their pornographic content since the government launched a crackdown in December 2009, an official statement has said. The National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications said some 1.7 million websites have also been checked since the launch of the campaign, according to the China Daily. Around 2,200 cases of dissemination of online pornography were registered during this period, said the statement that added the office received over 160,000 porn-related tip-offs from the public. About 526,000 yuan ($79,000) were paid to 516 informers, the office said. China has the world's largest online population, with over 420 million netizens. People who use internet-enabled mobile phones has reached 277 million in the country.
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| Miners believed dead after second blast at New Zealand coal mine Posted: All 29 men trapped for six days following an explosion in a New Zealand coal mine were believed dead after a second underground blast rocked the pit. Police Chief Gary Knowles said nobody could have survived the second blast at the Pike River mine, on the west coast of the South Island. "It is extremely unlikely that anyone survived," mine chief executive Peter Whittall said. Local mayor Tony Kokshoorn said a concentration of gases had caused an "enormous" explosion, far bigger than the blast Friday. "This is the west coast's darkest hour," he said. Hope for the trapped men - aged 17 to 62 - had been fading daily as a rescue party of 65 miners was unable to enter the mine because air samples showed the risk of another explosion from toxic gases. Observers justified the caution of authorities and company officials, who insisted throughout that they would not allow rescuers to go into the mine until it was proved safe. But Kokshoorn said families were angry at police, whom they blamed for not allowing a rescue attempt immediately after Friday's explosion.
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| China shuts down 60,000 porn sites Posted: China has shut down over 60,000 websites for their pornographic content since the government launched a crackdown in December 2009, an official statement has said.
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| Facebook a trap, says web founder Posted: Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking sites represent "one of several threats" to the future of the world wide web, its founder, Sir Tim Berners-Lee (pictured), has warned. Some of its "most successful inhabitants", such as Facebook and big telecom companies, had begun to "chip away" at its founding principles, he wrote in a Scientific American essay published this week. Social networking sites that do not allow users to extract the information they put into them is a "problem" that could mean the web is "broken into fragmented islands", he said. Google accused Facebook this month of leaving its more than 500 million users in a "data dead-end" with their contact details and personal information "effectively trapped". Although Facebook recently began allowing users to download profile information, including status updates and photos, it has been roundly criticised for leaving users' networks of contacts "walled" inside its own site. Sir Tim warned that such a "closed silo of content" risked leaving the web fragmented. "The web evolved into a powerful, ubiquitous tool because it was built on egalitarian principles," he said. "Your social networking site becomes a central platform a closed silo of content, and one that does not give you full control over your information in it." Sir Tim said there was a worry Facebook could become "so big that it becomes a monopoly, which tends to limit innovation".
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| Bookies back royal Kenyan honeymoon Posted: Odds back William & Kate returning to where they got engaged; Harry favourite to be best man Who will be the best man?
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| N Korea threatens 'merciless' strikes Posted: ... While South Korea's president says 'enormous retaliation' is needed, following Pyongyang's first direct artillery attack on the South since the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953 South Korean troops were on their highest peacetime alert last night amid fears of a new cross-border artillery bombardment after North Korea warned it could continue 'merciless strikes' on its bitter rival. Tensions between the two countries were said to be at their 'worst levels in decades' following the death of two South Korean marines killed yesterday in one of the heaviest attacks on its neighbour since the Korean War ended in 1953. The artillery barrage the South fired back and scrambled a fighter jet to the area was close to a disputed maritime border on the west of the divided peninsula and the scene of deadly clashes in the past. At least 200 shells pounded a military base on Yeonpyeong island, near a disputed maritime border, killing the marines and injuring 17 of their colleagues. Six civilians were also wounded and TV pictures showed blazing buildings, fleeing civilians and columns of smoke rising over the island. South Korea said it responded by firing self-propelled howitzers but declined to say whether North Korean territory was hit. It described the attack on civilians on Yeonpyeong, as "inhumane atrocities". The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never negotiated and Seoul said the attack violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War.
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